SQL Syntax

SQL Statements

Most of the actions you need to perform on a database are done with SQL statements.

SQL statements consist of keywords that are easy to understand.

Database Tables

A database most often contains one or more tables. Each table is identified by a name (e.g., "Customers" or "Orders") and contains records (rows) with data.

In this tutorial, we will use the well-known Northwind sample database (included in MS Access and MS SQL Server).

Below is a selection from the Customers table used in the examples:

CustomerID	CustomerName	ContactName	Address	City	PostalCode	Country
1	Alfreds Futterkiste	Maria Anders	Obere Str. 57	Berlin	12209	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo Emparedados y Helados	Ana Trujillo	Avda. de la Constitución 2222	México D.F.	05021	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno Taquería	Antonio Moreno	Mataderos 2312	México D.F.	05023	Mexico
4	Around the Horn	Thomas Hardy	120 Hanover Sq.	London	WA1 1DP	UK
5	Berglunds snabbköp	Christina Berglund	Berguvsvägen 8	Luleå	S-958 22	Sweden

The table above contains five records (one for each customer) and seven columns (CustomerID, CustomerName, ContactName, Address, City, PostalCode, and Country).

Keep in Mind That...

SQL keywords are NOT case-sensitive: select is the same as SELECT.

In this tutorial, we will write all SQL keywords in upper-case.

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Semicolon after SQL Statements?

Some database systems require a semicolon at the end of each SQL statement.

A semicolon is the standard way to separate each SQL statement in database systems that allow more than one SQL statement to be executed in the same call to the server.

In this tutorial, we will use a semicolon at the end of each SQL statement.

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Some of The Most Important SQL Commands

• SELECT - extracts data from a database
• UPDATE - updates data in a database
• DELETE - deletes data from a database
• INSERT INTO - inserts new data into a database
• CREATE DATABASE - creates a new database
• ALTER DATABASE - modifies a database
• CREATE TABLE - creates a new table
• ALTER TABLE - modifies a table
• DROP TABLE - deletes a table
• CREATE INDEX - creates an index (search key)
• DROP INDEX - deletes an index